Show faith in the best batsmen: Waugh

Former Australia cricket captain, Steve Waugh has stated that the national selectors need to recognize, pick, nurture and persist with the nation's six most prolific Test batsmen if Australia are to return to the pinnacle of the 5-day game.

He added that the fear of being dropped was preventing the country's fringe players from playing to their full potential and in effect adversely affecting the performance of the Australian side.

"Look at Phil Hughes, he's been up and down the order and has been dropped three or four times in 20 Tests. That doesn't give you much confidence," Waugh said. He cited Usman Khawaja as another classic example.

Waugh said that the selectors had to show confidence in the 6 to 7 batsmen they chose.

"Selectors have got to say: 'We're going to go through some tough times, but these are the six or seven batsmen we believe in and we're going to back them even if they don't succeed straight away'," stated Waugh.

He went back down memory lane and gave his own example - of his initial struggles and how the selectors had persisted with and showed faith in him. It took Waugh 13 Tests before he could taste victory as the Australian captain. He also only reached triple figures for the first time in his 26th Test. However, he then blossomed into one of Australia's most successful batsmen and captains, accumulating 10,927 Test runs at an average of 51.06 and leading Australia in 15 of its record-breaking 16 consecutive Test victories.

"It took a long while for me to get it right as well. But I had the benefit of getting it wrong. Right now, the selectors need to pick and stick and show confidence in players," quoted Waugh.

Waugh added that he believed Australia's problems stemmed from too much Twenty20 and one-day cricket, which he said did not adequately prepare batsmen for the discipline of a Test match.

"We've got more than enough talent but they are not sure how to play Test cricket, they've had so much Twenty20 and 50 overs cricket," he said.

"Test cricket tests you in every department -- physically, technically and emotionally -- and if you are not up to it in any category you'll struggle."